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	<title>UniqueThink &#187; WordPress</title>
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	<link>http://uniquethink.com</link>
	<description>online marketing, social media, WordPress and web development, web usability, seo, email marketing and more…located in Boulder, CO</description>
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		<title>Do Keywords Matter?</title>
		<link>http://uniquethink.com/do-keywords-matter/</link>
		<comments>http://uniquethink.com/do-keywords-matter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:58:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bethany Siegler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boulder Digital Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dave Taylor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[keywords]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Meta Keywords]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search engine optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search engines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[workshop]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://uniquethink.com/?p=910</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
Recently, I received an email with the following question about whether keywords mattered.  With her permission, I am posting A&#8217;ra&#8217;s question about the Value of  Keywords, along with my response.  Hope it helps you, as well.  Here&#8217;s A&#8217;ra&#8217;s question:

&#8220;Are keywords still useful? What is the latest on website optimization.  Talked with someone lately who told me that using keywords was so overdone that google doesn&#8217;t look for them any more. I know you&#8217;re always up on these things, so I was wondering what&#8217;s new with the latest and ...]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: left;">Recently, I received an email with the following question about whether keywords mattered.  With her permission, I am posting A&#8217;ra&#8217;s question about the Value of  Keywords, along with my response.  Hope it helps you, as well.  Here&#8217;s A&#8217;ra&#8217;s question:</p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-920" title="Keywords" src="http://uniquethink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Keywords.jpg" alt="" width="132" height="70" /></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #888888;"><em>&#8220;Are keywords still useful? What is the latest on website optimization.  Talked with <strong>someone </strong>lately who <strong>told me</strong> that <strong>using keywords was so overdone that google doesn&#8217;t look for them any more</strong>. I know you&#8217;re always up on these things, so I was wondering what&#8217;s new with the latest and greatest in website land.&#8221;</em>- A&#8217;ra Lippitt Blair</span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Here is my response about whether Google thinks keywords are relevant.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">Hi A’ra:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">Your friend was almost correct (if they were referring to the Meta Keyword field, not keywords themselves).  It is a confusing thing, and without being there, I am not sure if they explained it incorrectly or if they understand it incorrectly, themselves.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;"><strong>Using appropriate keywords (on your page and in your code) are still very important for optimizing your site</strong>.  What an appropriate keyword is, is a whole different conversation.  So, let’s stay on their comment about keywords for the time being.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">There are sections within the site’s code called <strong>Meta Title, Meta Description and Meta Keyword Tags</strong>.  <strong>These 3 sections use keywords </strong>(<strong>words that are &#8216;key&#8217; to helping people find your site</strong>).</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">These sections aren&#8217;t visible to the site visitor, but are important to be filled out to help the search engines rank you better. However, the <strong>Meta Keyword Tags are currently believed to be ‘less important’ </strong>to fill out than the other two sections.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: center;">Which is where your friend’s comment comes from.  What your friend was most likely referring to is: <a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html" target="_blank"><strong>Google has publicly stated they are currently not looking at the Meta Keyword Tags</strong></a>, because folks were ‘stuffing this field with inappropriate keywords’ (in these cases people were using words or phrases that get searched a lot, but are irrelevant to the specific site’s content).</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: center;">NOTE: Here is a video of Matt Cutt&#8217;s from Google talking about this subject (Sept. 2009):</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="320" height="195" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jK7IPbnmvVU&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;version=3" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="320" height="195" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jK7IPbnmvVU&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feature=player_embedded&amp;version=3" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">Yet,<strong> &#8220;keywords&#8221; </strong>(appropriate words to describe your services, or better yet your potential client/customer’s current problem) <strong>are what these 3 Meta sections consist of</strong>, so &#8216;keywords&#8217; are still relevant.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">And, each page/post may have its own set of ‘key’ words or phrases, which may be more relevant to the actual content on that specific page.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">See why it gets confusing?</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">But, again, going back to your friend’s comment, they were (or should have been) merely talking about the <strong>Meta Keyword section not being relevant, not the &#8216;concept&#8217; of using keywords. </strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">AND, now, this is where it gets even trickier: just because Google isn’t using the Meta Keyword section does not mean it isn’t being used by other search engines NOR does it mean Google won’t decide to use it again in the future.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">So, I recommend you do fill out the Meta sections, per page, with the appropriate keywords to describe the content on each specific page.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">And, since you (A&#8217;ra) are using WordPress, you can get a plugin to help do just that! There are many to consider, but I tend to use the free version of <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/" target="_blank">All in One SEO Pack.</a></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">SEO is a big subject, and we’re just tapping into it a bit here.  What I suggest, if you are interested in learning more, is to consider hiring someone to either teach you or do the appropriate work for you (make sure it is a reputable company that keeps up on the latest info).  As an online marketing consultant, not an SEO specialist, I  do what I call SEO Lite, which sets you up with the best practices and latest info, to help you optimize your site for the visitors, as well as the search engines.  I prefer to teach these SEO basics (while focusing on other ways to generate traffic to the site, since most of my clients don&#8217;t have huge budgets for SEO).  The SEO Lite sets you up with a foundation, because SEO is an ongoing thing.  And, it is better for you to understand the basics, so you can continue to optimize each page and post for its individual content.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">If you don’t have funds for one on one consultations, I suggest (if you don&#8217;t mind taking the trip up to Boulder) taking <a href="http://www.boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=50&amp;source=bethany" target="_blank">Dave Taylor’s SEO workshops at Boulder Digital Arts</a> &#8211; use coupon code Bethany2011, to get 10% OFF!</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">And, you can also read the blog posts I have written on the subject, here are links to them:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">
<blockquote>
<ul style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://uniquethink.com/keyword-research/">What is a Keyword and how do I find mine?</a></li>
<li><a href="http://uniquethink.com/seo-tips-how-to-optimize-your-site/">SEO tips: How to Optimize your site </a></li>
<li><a href="http://uniquethink.com/setting-realistic-seo-expectations/">Setting Realistic SEO Expectations</a></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">What I tell folks is: You will probably have to read each of these posts a couple of times.  Then start with some small steps.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">Let me know if that answers your question.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">Focusing on the many possibilities&#8230;<br />
Bethany</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">So, this was the response to A&#8217;ra&#8217;s question.  But what about you?  Are you hearing confusing, concerning or even conflicting information on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or Keyword Research?  If so, comment below and I&#8217;ll try to answer it or find someone who can.  Who knows, maybe your question may lead to a full blog post response (I&#8217;ll always ask permission first, if I reference you by name)!  Or maybe you have some insights to share on the subject.<br />
Feel free to comment below (with constructive suggestions, please):</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Is it time to switch from WordPress.com to WordPress.ORG?</title>
		<link>http://uniquethink.com/is-it-time-to-switch-from-wordpress-com-to-wordpress-org/</link>
		<comments>http://uniquethink.com/is-it-time-to-switch-from-wordpress-com-to-wordpress-org/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Nov 2010 01:28:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bethany Siegler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ads]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog tool]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[custom theme]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[domain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hosting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[offsite redirect]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress.com]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://uniquethink.com/?p=655</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
Finally, WordPress.com makes it easier to switch over to a version of WordPress.ORG (self hosted version, that means it sits on your own hosting plan, instead of on their server, which gives you A LOT more freedom).  This used to be a chore to do, but WordPress.com has made it much easier with a new Premium option called Offsite Redirect.  Yes, Premium comes with a small cost, but nothing compared to the time and effort of the old way of accomplishing this.  It&#8217;s only $12 a yr.
So what does this ...]]></description>
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<p>Finally, <a href="http://WordPress.com" target="_blank"><strong>WordPress.com</strong></a> makes it easier to switch over to a version of <strong><a href="http://WordPress.ORG" target="_blank">WordPress.ORG</a></strong> (self hosted version, that means it sits on your own hosting plan, instead of on their server, which gives you A LOT more freedom).  This used to be a chore to do, but WordPress.com has made it much easier with a new Premium option called <strong><a href="http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/offsite-redirect/" target="_blank">Offsite Redirect</a></strong>.  Yes, Premium comes with a small cost, but nothing compared to the time and effort of the old way of accomplishing this.  It&#8217;s only $12 a yr.</p>
<p>So what does this Premium upgrade get you?  I&#8217;ll let them tell you with copy from their post about it called <a href="http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/offsite-redirect/" target="_blank"><em>Hello, Goodbye: Offsite Redirect Upgrade</em> &#8211; by Jane Wells</a></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Purchasing the Offsite Redirect upgrade will take the traffic coming  to your old wordpress.com blog and forward it to your new domain so that  links to your old content won’t break and you won’t take an SEO hit as a  result of your move. Oh, and unlike the old domain mapping/DNS  workaround, the signup process is easy as pie. Mmm, pie. <img src="http://s2.wp.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif?m=1264106829g" alt=":)" /></em></p>
<p>So, now the question on your mind might be: <em><strong>Why would I want to move from WordPress.com to WordPress.ORG? </strong></em></p>
<p>And, the answer is, if you are happy and have no complaints, stay where you are.  However, if you have ever wanted any of the following, it might be a good time to consider a move:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Your own domain name</strong>: OK, this one isn&#8217;t that much of a problem, because you could always point your own domain name to WordPress.com &#8211; and there is even a way to make it so all your pages follow through with that address, but there is a fee for that!  So, if you don&#8217;t want your address to be MyBlogName.WordPress.com, you have three choices:
<ol>
<li>Buy a domain name and point it to your .WordPress<strong>.com</strong> account</li>
<li>Buy the domain and then pay a Premium to have all your pages and posts reflect that name</li>
<li>Use the self-hosted version of WordPress<strong>.ORG</strong> &#8211; as I said earlier, this reason alone may not be compelling enough, but read on&#8230;</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Control of Ads</strong>: On occasion, the WordPress.com folks will throw an ad on your free .WordPress<strong>.com</strong> blog.  It is their way of keeping their service free (and they do provide a lot and ask little).  So, again, let&#8217;s compare the options.  The one concern is how they are placing the ads?  Are they relevant to your keywords?  Since I don&#8217;t know how they pick when to put an ad on someones site, it leaves some questions. And, though it is unlikely, I wonder if there is a chance they could put up an ad to your direct competitor?  Hopefully, they have a good system in place to avoid that, but here are your options, regarding ads:
<ol>
<li>You can pay a Premium to remove these ads from your .com site/blog</li>
<li>You can agree to do a 50/50 split to run your own ads now (I had never seen this before, so not sure of other details)</li>
<li>You can move to WordPress<strong>.ORG</strong> where you can have the freedom to put up your own ads (maybe subtly promoting your own products/services), make money from offering ad space to others (if your site/blog is appropriate), or be completely ad-free.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li><strong>Scripts/Codes/Plugins</strong>: Sometimes you want to put a script on your site/blog, to do some functionality &#8211; for instance, collect email addresses from your visitors.  With WordPress.com, you can not put any 3rd party software or code onto your WordPress<strong>.com</strong> accounts, so you&#8217;d definitely want to move to WordPress.<strong>ORG</strong> to take advantage of the 1000s of amazing add-ons available from the WordPress community, in the form of plugins.  Go to <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/" target="_blank">WordPress.ORG&#8217;s Plugin Directory</a> to find many of the free ones.  Similar to the iPhone Apps, if you are looking to do something, <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/" target="_blank">there&#8217;s a plugin for that&#8230;</a></li>
<li><strong>Customize the look of your blog/site</strong>: To do some light customization (changing colors, for instance) you could pay WordPress.Com to get into the CSS (providing you know CSS), but to get a look that really meets your vision, you could move to WordPress.ORG and use any theme (layout, the look of your site) or have someone custom create a look for you</li>
</ul>
<p>Again, if you are happy with the way your WordPress.COM site works and/or OK with paying them the small Premiums to get some of the other options, then stay where you are.</p>
<p>However, if you are going to be paying for all those premiums, to try to get the results you want, I suggest using WordPress.ORG and have full control of your site (ads, look, plugins&#8230;).  To me, the plugins alone are reason to move!  Either way, you now have at least one less excuse for not moving to a  self-hosted version!</p>
<p>I sure could have used this new <strong><a href="http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/offsite-redirect/" target="_blank">Offsite Redirect</a></strong> feature, years ago, but glad to finally see it now.</p>
<p><strong>Bottom Line: </strong>The $12 a year fee is a small price to pay, compared to the headache of the old way to do this redirect process!</p>
<p><em>Are you using WordPress.com?  Were you considering which version of WordPress (.com vs. .org) to use for your new site/blog?  Did this post help to answer those questions for you?  If you have additional questions, either comment below, or <a href="http://uniquethink.com/contact-us/">contact UniqueThink for a free 1-hour consult</a>, to discuss your unique situation.</em></p>
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		<title>Getting Started: Walking the Talk</title>
		<link>http://uniquethink.com/getting-started-walking-the-talk/</link>
		<comments>http://uniquethink.com/getting-started-walking-the-talk/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 05:50:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bethany Siegler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[elevator speech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[email marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[first step]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Getting Started]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LinkedIn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://uniquethink.com/?p=547</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
Recently, it became clear to me that I was not walking the talk.  That as a marketer, I was using excuses like: &#8220;I spend my days marketing others&#8221; and &#8220;I am very fortunate that I get so many referrals, so I don&#8217;t need to be marketing myself.&#8221;  But then, it occurred to me I couldn&#8217;t ask other folks to be investing their time to doing email marketing, blogging and social media, if I was putting it on the back burner, myself.
I understand how hard it is to find time, and ...]]></description>
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<p><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-552" title="WalkingTheTalk" src="http://uniquethink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/WalkingTheTalk.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />Recently, it became clear to me that I was not walking the talk.  That as a marketer, I was using excuses like: &#8220;I spend my days marketing others&#8221; and &#8220;I am very fortunate that I get so many referrals, so I don&#8217;t need to be marketing myself.&#8221;  But then, it occurred to me I couldn&#8217;t ask other folks to be investing their time to doing email marketing, blogging and social media, if I was putting it on the back burner, myself.</p>
<p>I understand how hard it is to find time, and how easy it is to &#8216;do it later&#8217;.  So, to help me, as well as all of you reading this, I have decided to start <strong>back to the basics</strong>, not only to give me a fresh start, but also to <strong>help all of you learn during my process.</strong></p>
<p><strong>To get started, I am going to have to make sure I know my intended audience.</strong> Then I can create an editorial calendar, which will keep me more focused on blogging several times a month, mentioning those blog posts on appropriate social media outlets, and then wrap each month up with an email recap.</p>
<p>I currently mention a lot of great articles in my status updates on <strong><a href="http://bit.ly/UniqueThinkonFacebook" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://Twitter.com/uniquethink" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.Linkedin.com/in/uniquethink" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></strong>, so I will continue doing that, as well.  The articles are ones which inspire my/your business, offer insights on cool new tools (from a new WordPress plugin to a time management app), and bring new ideas on how to communicate my/your meaningful difference.</p>
<p><strong>So, how to get started (or re-energized) and accomplish the goal of understanding my intended audience better?</strong></p>
<p>First, I need to do the first thing I have my prospective clients do.  Answer some questions about who my audience is, what they really want/need from me, and where my business is at with its current marketing efforts.</p>
<p>Why don&#8217;t you do this along with me?  Answer the questions for your own business&#8230;</p>
<p>I have a list of questions that I tend to start with, and sometimes I have to ask less of them, because the client makes it easy by being clear up front.  Other times, I have to dig deeper.</p>
<p>Here is the first (and yes, obvious) question that helps me know whether the client has put thought into what they say when folks ask them what they do.  Though the question is obvious, it really makes it clear how well the client knows their own audience:</p>
<p><strong><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-554" title="antique_elevator_dial" src="http://uniquethink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/832552_antique_elevator_dial.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="212" /><span style="font-size: medium;">Describe your company &#8211; what is your Elevator Speech?</span></strong> (an elevator speech is a short &#8211; very short &#8211; statement you can say to folks &#8216;between floors in an elevator&#8217;, to explain what you do, and whether they or someone they know can benefit from finding out more).</p>
<p><strong>Here is a bad elevator speech</strong>, I should know, I used it my first year out: &#8220;<em>I can do any kind of marketing you need.  What are you looking for</em>?&#8221;</p>
<p>This was bad because most people don&#8217;t really know what marketing is &#8211; they might think it is sales, public relations, or marketing research (calling folks to ask their opinion on a product).  I don&#8217;t really do those tasks, though I have and could, I really did not want to be doing &#8216;those things&#8217;.  And, yet, I was telling them I could do anything.  Also, what I found was though it was an open ended question, when I asked them what they were looking for, they usually didn&#8217;t know.  If they wanted anything from me, it was help to figure out why they would need me.  I was not being clear with my own marketing message.</p>
<p><strong>Here is a better elevator speech:</strong> &#8220;<em>I help people build their complete online presence: blogging, email marketing, social media&#8230;  Since my forte is marketing, I also create or redesign websites (using WordPress) with the goal to make it easier for your visitors to get the info they want.</em>&#8221;</p>
<p>Though I don&#8217;t always say it exactly like that, I can state something to that effect in about 14 seconds.  At which point, people either say, they have been considering one or another of these activities, they know someone else who is looking for help with marketing, they don&#8217;t know what social media really is or they just heard about WordPress and have a question.</p>
<p>Sometimes, they tell me they have no interest in Twitter, or some other site, and I get to ask what it is that they don&#8217;t like. And we begin to have a great conversation.</p>
<p>On occasion, they say they know someone else who offers similar services and then I can ask who the person is &#8211; because I may either know them or may find someone new to align with (I&#8217;m always open to talk with folks who are doing similar things &#8211; as I&#8217;ve found often its more complimentary than competition).</p>
<p>However they respond, at least they are responding. I don&#8217;t get that blank stare I used to get from my old conversation &#8216;stopper&#8217;, where I was leaving it up to them to tell me what they didn&#8217;t know they needed.</p>
<p><a href="http://uniquethink.com/PDFs/UniqueThinkNewClientQuestionnaire.pdf" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-567" title="NewClientQuestionnaire" src="http://uniquethink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/NewClientQuestionnaire.jpg" alt="" width="109" height="136" /></a>Anyway, getting back to the questions I ask, I&#8217;ve provided a link to <a href="http://uniquethink.com/PDFs/UniqueThinkNewClientQuestionnaire.pdf" target="_blank">download UniqueThink&#8217;s New Client Questionnaire</a>.  This way, you can quiz yourself on how well you know your own company and why you are doing things you are doing and what you are trying to accomplish with any new marketing goals.  It is a very helpful exercise, so I truly hope you take advantage of this and try it, now.</p>
<p>You can either print it out and ask yourself the questions or <a href="http://uniquethink.com/contact-us/">call me for a 1-hr free consult</a>, to go over it together.  Again, when I go over these questions with the client, it is to help them figure this all out, as much as it is for me to understand where to go next.  I don&#8217;t always ask every client every question.  Sometimes I skip around and sometimes I probe deeper on one specific question.  If you are reading the questionnaire, right now, you may notice, some of the questions are repetitive.  Those are for those times I haven&#8217;t felt like I fully gathered the insights I needed to understand the clients goals (or that they haven&#8217;t really addressed the goal), with the way the question was originally framed.  And in most cases, I tend to ask 5-8 of the questions and &#8216;get it&#8217; enough to move to the next step.</p>
<p>Well, that&#8217;s enough info to get you started on the first step.  Any questions, yet?  How do you feel about going on this journey with me?  Do you see the value of exploring or re-exploring this (even if you&#8217;ve already begun your own marketing efforts)?  Feel free to share your experiences, insights, and more&#8230; by commenting below.</p>
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		<title>Can Every Biz Benefit from a blog?</title>
		<link>http://uniquethink.com/can-every-biz-benefit-from-a-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://uniquethink.com/can-every-biz-benefit-from-a-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:29:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bethany Siegler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging Tips and Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Press & Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bethany Siegler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordCamp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://uniquethink.com/?p=462</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
Editor&#8217;s Note: The video of the Blogging for Biz panel is now available at WordPress.TV &#8211; it is also added to the end of this post.
I had a great time at WordCamp Boulder.  Beth J. Hayden &#8211; of BloggingWithBeth.com &#8211; and Jim Turner &#8211; of OneByOneMedia.com &#8211; shared the Blogging for Business Panel with me (Bethany Siegler of UniqueThink).  I heard there was video of it, so I won&#8217;t repeat much of what was discussed.  And once I find it, I&#8217;ll link to it.  In the meantime, I did want ...]]></description>
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<p><em>Editor&#8217;s Note: The video of the <a href="http://wordpress.tv/2010/07/10/business-blogging-boulder10/" target="_blank">Blogging for Biz panel is now available at WordPress.TV</a> &#8211; it is also added to the end of this post.</em><br />
<a href="http://2010.boulder.wordcamp.org/speakers/" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-531" title="WordCamp2010" src="http://uniquethink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/WordCamp2010.png" alt="" width="128" height="208" /></a>I had a great time at <strong>WordCamp Boulder</strong>.  Beth J. Hayden &#8211; of <a href="http://bloggingwithbeth.com/" target="_blank">BloggingWithBeth.com</a> &#8211; and Jim Turner &#8211; of <a href="http://www.onebyonemedia.com/" target="_blank">OneByOneMedia.com</a> &#8211; shared the <strong>Blogging for Business Panel </strong>with me (Bethany Siegler of <a href="http://uniquethink.com/about-us/" target="_blank">UniqueThink</a>).  I heard there was video of it, so I won&#8217;t repeat much of what was discussed.  And once I find it, I&#8217;ll link to it.  In the meantime, I did want to add to the conversation we started about what types of businesses should be blogging.</p>
<p>It has long been my belief that ANY company CAN benefit from  blogging.  As a panel we came up with the following, as some of the top reasons to consider blogging for your own biz:</p>
<ol>
<li>Get found online</li>
<li>Build a community of people who trust your company will take care of and listen to them</li>
<li>Communicate your meaningful difference, to let folks  see how your products/services help resolve their situation</li>
</ol>
<p>When our panel was asked if blogging was REALLY for every type of business, there was a discussion about whether a Dry Cleaner could truly build a successful blog.  My response: &#8220;YES, definitely!&#8221; and then I think I gave a few examples off the top of my head, like Green Cleaning Pros OR Cons.  I could come up with tons of post ideas people would like to read, there are endless topics, like treating your garment when the stain first occurs TO how to care for that antique quilt you inherited from Great Aunt Sally.</p>
<p><a href="http://wordpress.tv/2010/07/10/business-blogging-boulder10/" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-540" title="Panel Discussion_ Blogging for Your Business « WordPress.tv" src="http://uniquethink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Panel-Discussion_-Blogging-for-Your-Business-«-WordPress.tv_-300x186.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="186" /></a>Then, to prove my theory about ANY business benefiting from blogging, I offered the audience an extreme example of a business blog. I was once in a conversation where someone asked, &#8220;Is it appropriate for a Mortician to have a business blog?&#8221;  And, to me there is no question, YES!, so I gave a quick example of a possible topic to the WordCamp audience.  Not everyone might be interested in that specific topic I mentioned, but if done correctly the overall blog could offer readers a great deal of trust and a level of comfort when picking out a funeral home.</p>
<p>As I mentioned earlier, I don&#8217;t want to take the time to talk about what we already talked about at WordCamp (but you can find the video, if you want to hear the whole panel discussion.  And, if you do find the video before me, please let me know!).  For the rest of this post, I&#8217;d like to focus on how blogging can be good for every kind of business:</p>
<p>Now, when I say ANY company can benefit from a blog, I have to state the conversation Beth and I had after the panel.  <strong>We both agreed we should have stated</strong>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>There is one &#8216;type&#8217; of company who should not blog: A company who is NOT willing to make the commitment to blogging</strong></span></p>
<p>However, what does that mean?  What is &#8216;the commitment to blogging&#8217;?  The commitment is about figuring out why you should be blogging and coming up with a strategy to make it happen.  And then, making it happen!</p>
<p><strong>Below are some tips to get you started:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Understand the purpose of your blog.  Determine what you want your company and, most importantly, your readers to get out of the conversations. For instance, here are some good reasons to want to blog (you should want to do more than less of these):
<ul>
<li>Answer Frequently Asked Questions: Let people get to know your product/service better</li>
<li>Get visitors familiar with the company&#8217;s philosophy: Helps to assure it&#8217;s aligned with the customers&#8217; needs</li>
<li>Encourage Involvement: Gets the customers&#8217; to take actions, like commenting, to build a community and even share insights and ideas to help others</li>
<li>Become a thought leader in the industry: Share your knowledge of the overall industry, not just your products place in it</li>
<li>Learn from your clients:  Listening to what your readers have to say can help to create future services and products they want, instead of what you assume they might want</li>
<li>Engage with your community: Having a blog is a great way to get to know your customers&#8217; better.  The more back and forth dialogue, the better</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Lay out a successful, effective and easily maintainable strategy:
<ul>
<li>Decide who will be contributing or better yet, ask the staff which portion of the following tasks they might be good at helping with: content manager, editor (if needed), writers, researchers, media/arts department (don&#8217;t worry if you are all of the above &#8211; there are always tools to help)</li>
<li>Figure out how frequently you want content added and if that is a realistic goal, with staffs&#8217; other obligations &#8211; you can always adjust, but don&#8217;t overload at first, or it may never happen</li>
<li>Determine the appropriate tools (WordPress is at the top of that list)</li>
<li>Plan an editorial calendar &#8211; just like the newspapers and magazines do.  This does not mean you can only write when something is on the calendar &#8211; it just makes it easier to know when some important dates or material needs to be added.  But go ahead and blog on a whim, if you have something of interest to share!</li>
<li>Set realistic goals, maybe you are unable to blog as often as you&#8217;d like, but when you do, it is great content!  Or maybe you only have time to do short posts summarizing things you read somewhere else, instead of heavily researched articles prepared in-house.  As long as it is relevant and informative, that is fine!</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Follow through, start your blog and make sure to maintain it!</li>
</ul>
<p>Please keep in mind, these are just suggestions, and they can be tailored to work for any company.  Maybe instead of you writing the content in-house, you hire a copywriter.  Or maybe you go to the local college and get an intern, if your budget is tight.</p>
<p>As far as a &#8216;type of business&#8217;, there really aren&#8217;t any businesses that I can think of who could not benefit from a blog.  If you have a business and don&#8217;t think your readers would be interested in reading your blog, why not give me a chance to brainstorm an idea or two, by commenting below.  And if you just want to challenge me, just name a biz that you don&#8217;t think could find material worth blogging about, to their specific audience and let me see if I could come up with a couple of content ideas.  Post your thoughts and challenges in the comment box below&#8230;</p>
<p>Watch the Blogging For Biz Panel at WordCamp Boulder: (Note: It is a 45 min video, so may take time to load &#8211; and looks like nothing is happening.  If you have issues, you can also go directly to <a href="http://wordpress.tv/2010/07/10/business-blogging-boulder10/" target="_blank">WordPress.TV</a> to view it there, along with the rest of WordCampBoulder).<br />
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		<title>University of Colorado partners with UniqueThink</title>
		<link>http://uniquethink.com/university-of-colorado-partners-with-uniquethink/</link>
		<comments>http://uniquethink.com/university-of-colorado-partners-with-uniquethink/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 May 2010 00:51:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bethany Siegler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Press & Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bethany Siegler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boulder Digital Arts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[University of Colorado]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[workshop]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://uniquethink.com/?p=324</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
University of Colorado at Boulder’s Marketing and Creative Services department has partnered with Bethany Siegler of UniqueThink, to offer her WordPress: Managing Content training to select clients.  The department will continue its focus on communications planning, web site design, development and usability, while utilizing Bethany’s experience for training clients to maintain content on their sites using the WordPress platform.
Bethany looks forward to working with CU.  She has been doing a similar presentation at Boulder Digital Arts (BDA), which is for the general public.
The next public workshop at BDA is:
Tuesday, ...]]></description>
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<p><strong><a href="http://www.colorado.edu/ucomm/index.html" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-325" style="border: 3px solid black; margin: 3px;" title="CUwordmark" src="http://uniquethink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/CUwordmark.png" alt="" width="150" height="49" /></a><a href="http://www.colorado.edu/ucomm/index.html" target="_blank">University of Colorado at Boulder’s Marketing and Creative Services </a></strong>department has partnered with <strong>Bethany Siegler of UniqueThink</strong>, to offer her <strong><em>WordPress: Managing Content</em></strong> training to select clients.  The department will continue its focus on communications planning, web site design, development and usability, while utilizing Bethany’s experience for training clients to maintain content on their sites using the WordPress platform.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=217" target="_blank"><img class="size-full wp-image-326 alignright" title="bdalogo" src="http://uniquethink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/bdalogo.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="76" /></a>Bethany looks forward to working with CU.  She has been doing a similar presentation at <strong>Boulder Digital Arts</strong> (BDA), which is for the general public.</p>
<p>The next public workshop at BDA is:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong><a href="http://www.boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=217" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-327" title="WordPressLogoBDA" src="http://uniquethink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/WordPressLogoBDA.gif" alt="" width="114" height="85" /></a>Tuesday, May 18th, 2010<br />
6PM &#8211; 9PM<br />
BDA Arapahoe Studio<br />
1600 Range Street, Suite 100,<br />
Boulder, CO  80301 </strong></p>
<p>If you are interested in attending this presentation, please visit the <a href="http://www.boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=217" target="_blank">Boulder Digital Art&#8217;s Website</a>.</p>
<p>If your organization, association, meeting up group or company is looking for <strong>WordPress lecture style or hands on training opportunities</strong>, please <a href="http://uniquethink.com/contact-us/">contact Bethany at UniqueThink to arrange for speaking opportunities</a>.</p>
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		<title>Free Workshop: WordPress Websites: How to get a cost-effective, easy to maintain website</title>
		<link>http://uniquethink.com/free-workshop-wordpress-websites-how-to-get-a-cost-effective-easy-to-maintain-website/</link>
		<comments>http://uniquethink.com/free-workshop-wordpress-websites-how-to-get-a-cost-effective-easy-to-maintain-website/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:37:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bethany Siegler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Free Web and Marketing Tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Press & Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free workshop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Westminster Library]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://uniquethink.com/?p=265</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
Update 10/28/099:  This class has been rescheduled, due to snow.  It is now being held on Wed, November 4th.  Same time, same place.

I am doing a Free Workshop (lecture style) on Why to Use WordPress.ORG to build your complete website.
WORDPRESS WEBSITES: How to get a cost-effective, easy to maintain website
NEW DATE: Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
Westminster Public Library, College Hill, 6-7:30 p.m.
3705 West 112th Avenue
Westminster, CO  80031
Here&#8217;s the link to Google Maps
Call 303-404-5104 to register for this FREE program.
You need to RSVP &#8211; there is limited room, so make sure you ...]]></description>
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		</div>
<p><em><strong>Update 10/28/099:  This class has been rescheduled, due to snow.  It is now being held on Wed, November 4th.  Same time, same place.<br />
</strong></em></p>
<p>I am doing a <strong>Free Workshop</strong> (lecture style) on Why to Use WordPress.ORG to build your complete website.</p>
<h3>WORDPRESS WEBSITES: How to get a cost-effective, easy to maintain website</h3>
<p><strong>NEW DATE: </strong><strong>Wednesday, November 4th, 2009<br />
<a href="http://www.ci.westminster.co.us/2303.htm" target="_blank">Westminster Public Library</a>, College Hill, 6-7:30 p.m.</strong><br />
3705 West 112th Avenue<br />
Westminster, CO  80031</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s the link to <a href="http://www.google.com/maps?q=3705+W+112th+Ave,+Westminster,+CO+80031&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;z=15&amp;ll=39.903778,-105.037751&amp;spn=0.009745,0.033388&amp;om=0&amp;iwloc=addr" target="_blank">Google Maps</a></p>
<p><em>Call 303-404-5104 to register for this FREE program.</em></p>
<p><strong><em>You need to RSVP &#8211; there is limited room, so make sure you call<br />
</em></strong></p>
<p>Here is what I&#8217;ll be talking about:</p>
<ul>
<li>Get introduced to why WordPress is a great option for any small business to build and maintain their own site.
<ul>
<li>No more expensive graphic designers or waiting on a webmaster to make a simple change on your site.</li>
<li>If you have an old static site that isn’t bringing in traffic, or if you’re creating a website for the first time, WordPress is a great option for any small business.</li>
<li>Maintain your own website with this quick, easy and cost-effective tool that grows along with your company.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>What we will be discussing
<ul>
<li>Do you really need a Site AND a Blog for your business?</li>
<li>The difference between Blogs and Sites</li>
<li>WordPress.org (not WordPress.com)
<ul>
<li>It’s Free software (all you need is a hosting service provider and some plugins)</li>
<li>Maintain your own site/blog</li>
<li> Built in Marketing Advantages</li>
<li>A glance at how it works
<ul>
<li>Admin panel, Themes, Plugins and Widgets (what are they)
<ul>
<li>Steps to get started</li>
</ul>
</li>
<p>This series was coordinated by Dhyan Atkinson, and there are a lot of other great workshops in the series, as well, so go to the <a href="http://www.ci.westminster.co.us/2303.htm" target="_blank">library&#8217;s website</a> and check them out. Beth Hayden just did a great one on BLOGGING FOR YOUR BUSINESS. And the next one, after mine is Cindy Kalman, talking about GRAPHIC DESIGN IN THE INTERNET AGE.  So, check them all out.</p>
<p>If you miss any of them, don&#8217;t worry, we&#8217;ll be doing them again in the new year.  Also, don&#8217;t forget I am doing WordPress Workshops at Boulder Digital Arts, as well.</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
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		<title>Getting Started With WordPress Workshops</title>
		<link>http://uniquethink.com/getting-started-with-wordpress-workshop/</link>
		<comments>http://uniquethink.com/getting-started-with-wordpress-workshop/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:42:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bethany Siegler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://uniquethink.com/?p=237</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
Learn how, and why, to use WordPress for your complete web solution.  Set up and create sites (as well as blogs) using WordPress.org:
Getting Started with WordPress &#8211; For Content Creators
Date(s):
Monday, July 06, 2009 &#124; 6pm &#8211; 9pm  For description and more info, click here
Getting Started with WordPress &#8211; Web Developers
Date(s):
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 &#124; 6pm &#8211; 9pm  For description and more info, click here
Location:
BDA Studio
2510 47th Street, Suite 202, Boulder, CO  80301
Registration and more info available at BoulderDigitalArts.com

OK, many of you have been asking us to do this, and ...]]></description>
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<p>Learn how, and why, to use WordPress for your complete web solution.  Set up and create sites (as well as blogs) using WordPress.org:</p>
<p><a href="http://boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=216" target="_blank"><strong>Getting Started with WordPress &#8211; For Content Creators</strong></a><br />
Date(s):<br />
Monday, July 06, 2009 | 6pm &#8211; 9pm <a href="http://boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=216" target="_blank"> For description and more info, click here</a></p>
<p><a href="http://boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=217" target="_blank"><strong>Getting Started with WordPress &#8211; Web Developers</strong></a><br />
Date(s):<br />
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 | 6pm &#8211; 9pm  <a href="http://boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=217" target="_blank">For description and more info, click here</a></p>
<p><strong>Location:</strong><br />
BDA Studio<br />
2510 47th Street, Suite 202, Boulder, CO  80301</p>
<p><a href="http://boulderdigitalarts.com" target="_blank"><strong>Registration and more info available at BoulderDigitalArts.com</strong><br />
</a></p>
<p>OK, many of you have been asking us to do this, and it ends up that due to family circumstances Doug won&#8217;t be able to teach his normal WordPress Workshop for Boulder Digital Arts.  So, Angela Bowman and I will be doing it for him.</p>
<p>If you have been wanting to learn how to set up WordPress.org for yourself, instead of hiring me to do it for you, this is the time and place.</p>
<p>You actually benefit from both <a href="http://moongoosedesigns.com/" target="_blank">Angela</a> and my own experience.  Interestingly, we both took <a href="http://boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=217" target="_blank">Doug&#8217;s class</a> a couple of years before we met each other.  So, when we did meet, we were so excited to find someone else who loved building websites (not just blogs), from the fantastic WordPress tool set.</p>
<p>Anyway, for these classes, you get both of us teaching you all we learned from <a href="http://www.macwebguru.com/" target="_blank">Doug</a>, originally, plus all we&#8217;ve learned since.</p>
<p>So take full advantage of it.  Instead of paying one of us our normal hourly fee, you get both of us for 3 full hours, per class.</p>
<p>There are two options, and taking both classes could be beneficial, depending on your goals.</p>
<p>The first Workshop is for those who want to run the site themselves, to understand the power of WordPress.org as a content-creation or management tool, plus a review of the marketing advantages of using it.</p>
<p>The other workshop is  for using WordPress.org as a site-building tool ( bit more technical, so it&#8217;s geared toward those who want to learn all the nooks and crannies).</p>
<p>There will be a review of plugins during both classes, and some of the content will overlap, so if you have questions on which to take, <a href="http://uniquethink.com/contact-us/" target="_self">call me</a> and we&#8217;ll figure it out.</p>
<p><strong>Sign Up Now, while there are seats available! Or <a href="http://uniquethink.com/contact-us/" target="_self">contact me</a> with any questions<br />
</strong></p>
<p>There&#8217;s going to be lots of fun information.</p>
<p><a href="http://boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=216" target="_blank"><strong>Getting Started with WordPress &#8211; For Content Creators</strong></a></p>
<p><a href="http://boulderdigitalarts.com/training/details.asp?offering=217" target="_blank"><span class="header1">Getting Started with WordPress &#8211; Web Developers</span></a></p>
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		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
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		<title>Why WordPress 2.8?</title>
		<link>http://uniquethink.com/why-wordpress-28/</link>
		<comments>http://uniquethink.com/why-wordpress-28/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:58:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bethany Siegler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://uniquethink.com/?p=238</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
OK, I know, I am a WordPress Dork, but really, this thing just keeps getting better and better!
I must admit, when I heard about 2.8, I didn&#8217;t expect much.  After all, WordPress 2.7.1 did such a great job that I wasn&#8217;t missing much, other than the theme uploader.  And, with Vladimir Prelovac&#8217;s Theme Test Drive plugin, I didn&#8217;t even miss that!
So what could WordPress 2.8 have that I&#8217;d need?  Well watch the video and you&#8217;ll see.

If you haven&#8217;t watched the video yet, and you are still reading ...]]></description>
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<p>OK, I know, I am a WordPress Dork, but really, this thing just keeps getting better and better!</p>
<p>I must admit, when I heard about 2.8, I didn&#8217;t expect much.  After all, WordPress 2.7.1 did such a great job that I wasn&#8217;t missing much, other than the theme uploader.  And, with <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/theme-test-drive/" target="_blank">Vladimir Prelovac&#8217;s Theme Test Drive plugin</a>, I didn&#8217;t even miss that!</p>
<p>So what could WordPress 2.8 have that I&#8217;d need?  Well watch the video and you&#8217;ll see.<br />
<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="512" height="288" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://v.wordpress.com/Pu3T4X8l" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="512" height="288" src="http://v.wordpress.com/Pu3T4X8l"></embed></object></p>
<p>If you haven&#8217;t watched the video yet, and you are still reading this, I&#8217;ll give you a hint of why to install 2.8: (<a href="http://moongoosedesigns.com/" target="_blank">Angela</a>, this one is for you) You really won&#8217;t need to open up the FTP for editing php!</p>
<p>If you aren&#8217;t coding, that one won&#8217;t be too exciting, but then check out the Widgets section.  In fact, <a href="http://wordpress.org/development/2009/06/wordpress-28/" target="_blank">here, just watch the video</a>.  And, if you are as big a dork as me, you&#8217;ll be going &#8220;No Way!  How Cool!&#8221;  through the whole thing.</p>
<p>Oh, and the nod to jazz is nice, too.</p>
<p>And, if you are as big a WordPress fan (if not a WordPress dork), you may want to check out Inc. Magazine&#8217;s <a href="http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090601/the-way-i-work-matt-mullenweg.html" target="_blank">&#8220;The Way I Work&#8221; feature on WordPress visionary Matt Mullenweg</a>.</p>
<p>When it comes to WordPress 2.8, dubbed Baker &#8211; after the great Chet Baker &#8211; to this dork, it is like the first time I heard <strong><em>Kind of Blue </em>by Miles Davis</strong>.  I find myself torn between enjoying it quietly on my own and making everyone I can find listen to why it is so great.</p>
<p>If you aren&#8217;t familiar with why I love WordPress, check out some of the <a href="http://uniquethink.com/portfolio/wordpress-sites-by-uniquethink/" target="_self">WordPress based sites</a> I have created or <a href="http://uniquethink.com/contact-us/" target="_self">contact me for a free 1-hr consultation</a> of why you should be using it to maintain your own site and/or blog.</p>
<p>Also, feel free to share what you like (or maybe dislike) about WordPress 2.8, by commenting below&#8230;</p>
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		<title>New Option for Hosting Video to Your Blog</title>
		<link>http://uniquethink.com/hosting-video-to-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://uniquethink.com/hosting-video-to-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2009 22:48:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bethany Siegler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging Tips and Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Atomic Tango]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[YouTube]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://uniquethink.com/?p=236</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
One of my clients who does a lot with videos, Freddy at Atomic Tango, shared this info with me and I had to share it with all of you.
As you&#8217;ll see from the video below, WordPress.com is getting into the video hosting business.  What does that mean?  Well, if it means what I believe it does, it means these things:

 You can now host a video at WordPress.com directly &#8211; you don&#8217;t have to host your own videos somewhere else and then embed them into your own site
As Freddy points ...]]></description>
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			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Funiquethink.com%2Fhosting-video-to-blog%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Funiquethink.com%2Fhosting-video-to-blog%2F&amp;source=uniquethink&amp;style=normal&amp;service=bit.ly&amp;b=2" height="61" width="50" /><br />
			</a>
		</div>
<p>One of my clients who does a lot with videos, Freddy at <a href="http://atomictango.com" target="_blank">Atomic Tango</a>, shared this info with me and I had to share it with all of you.</p>
<p>As you&#8217;ll see from the video below, WordPress.com is getting into the video hosting business.  What does that mean?  Well, if it means what I believe it does, it means these things:</p>
<ul>
<li> You can now host a video at WordPress.com directly &#8211; you don&#8217;t have to host your own videos somewhere else and then embed them into your own site</li>
<li>As Freddy points out, you aren&#8217;t advertising for some other site, because there doesn&#8217;t appear to be a logo &#8211; like YouTube puts in the corner of their embedded videos</li>
<li>Folks can easily share your video by embedding it to their own site (such as self-hosted versions of WordPress.org), as I have done with the below video from <a href="http://videopress.com/" target="_blank">VideoPress</a>&#8216;s site &#8211; which will give you more insights on what tools it includes and why this tool is very interesting, so go ahead and watch that now:</li>
</ul>
<p><code><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="400" height="224" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://v.wordpress.com/OO4thna8" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="224" src="http://v.wordpress.com/OO4thna8" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></code></p>
<p>This sounds like a great idea for folks at WordPress.com.</p>
<p>The biggest downside of things &#8211; that I can think of at the moment &#8211; is that there isn&#8217;t currently a way for WordPress.org bloggers to directly host using this cool tool, we still have to have a WordPress.com account, upload it there and embed here. But in most cases you would already have a WordPress.com account, because you&#8217;re probably using Akismet to protect your comments and that is the only place to get your API key.  So, you could use that existing account for hosting the videos and embed here.  Though that is kind of like hosting it on YouTube &#8211; minus their logo presence.</p>
<p>Also, if you aren&#8217;t hosting the video at a high traffic site, like YouTube, then you aren&#8217;t getting their extra exposure for your video.</p>
<p>So what do you think?  If you are using WordPress.org already, is it worth it to use this new option?  Maybe for the sizing and other features listed in the video?  Watch the video and let me know your thoughts, by commenting below!</p>
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		<title>Free Slides how Tool</title>
		<link>http://uniquethink.com/free-slideshow-tool/</link>
		<comments>http://uniquethink.com/free-slideshow-tool/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:31:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bethany Siegler</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Free Web and Marketing Tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog tool]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free tool]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[presentation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WordPress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://uniquethink.com/?p=228</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
			
				
			
		
OK, I am trying out a new tool &#8211; which is Free and available to anyone looking to do a slide show.
It&#8217;s from http://www.slideshare.net/ and you can create your own page there, just like I did.  Then set up a Powerpoint presentation.  Mine is below, it is one I did a few months ago on Dhyan Atkinson&#8217;s Wed Afternoon Teleclass.
My presentation was called It&#8217;s A Blog, It&#8217;s A Website, It&#8217;s A Marketing Tool&#8230;It&#8217;s WordPress. It talks about using WordPress as both your blog and your complete website.
Its WordPress ...]]></description>
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			<a href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Funiquethink.com%2Ffree-slideshow-tool%2F"><br />
				<img src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http%3A%2F%2Funiquethink.com%2Ffree-slideshow-tool%2F&amp;source=uniquethink&amp;style=normal&amp;service=bit.ly&amp;b=2" height="61" width="50" /><br />
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<p>OK, I am trying out a new tool &#8211; which is Free and available to anyone looking to do a slide show.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/uniquethink" target="_blank">http://www.slideshare.net/</a> and you can create your own page there, just like I did.  Then set up a Powerpoint presentation.  Mine is below, it is one I did a few months ago on Dhyan Atkinson&#8217;s Wed Afternoon Teleclass.</p>
<p>My presentation was called <em><strong>It&#8217;s A Blog, It&#8217;s A Website, It&#8217;s A Marketing Tool&#8230;It&#8217;s WordPress</strong></em>. It talks about using WordPress as both your blog and your complete website.</p>
<div style="width: 425px; text-align: left;"><a style="font: 14px Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; display: block; margin: 12px 0 3px 0; text-decoration: underline;" title="Its WordPress Presentation" href="http://www.slideshare.net/uniquethink/its-wordpress-presentation-presentation-877508?type=powerpoint">Its WordPress Presentation</a></p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="355" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=itswordpresspresentation101508-1230573249212241-1&amp;stripped_title=its-wordpress-presentation-presentation-877508" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" src="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=itswordpresspresentation101508-1230573249212241-1&amp;stripped_title=its-wordpress-presentation-presentation-877508" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
</div>
<div id="__ss_877508" style="width: 425px; text-align: left;">
<div style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,arial; height: 26px; padding-top: 2px;">View SlideShare <a style="text-decoration: underline;" title="View Its WordPress Presentation on SlideShare" href="http://www.slideshare.net/uniquethink/its-wordpress-presentation-presentation-877508?type=powerpoint">presentation</a> or <a style="text-decoration: underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/upload?type=powerpoint">Upload</a> your own. (tags: <a style="text-decoration: underline;" href="http://slideshare.net/tag/tool">tool</a> <a style="text-decoration: underline;" href="http://slideshare.net/tag/blogging">blogging</a>)</div>
</div>
<p>Comment below and let me know what you think of both the presentation and the SlideShare site!</p>
<p>Focusing on the possibilities&#8230;</p>
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